


Step of Two

by Zerotaste



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Ballet, First Time, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2018-12-29 18:59:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12091359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerotaste/pseuds/Zerotaste
Summary: As the studio door swings closed behind him he finds himself sinking to the floor. The situation was already far from ideal and he’s just made things worse for himself by being stubborn. Most of the time ballet is a nice aside from his general life, a chance to switch off his mind from his real troubles and focus on the steps and the music. Right now it’s anything but that; just another thing on the pile of worries and stresses that have him seriously having to watch he’s not scowling so much that he’ll get wrinkles from it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another fic, another Knights ship.
> 
> Only warning is that I’ve played up Izumi’s bad relationship with food/eating disordered behaviours more than I usually do in this.

Cool and solid under his him, the wooden floor of the studio is a welcome relief against his sweaty back. His entire body feels ready to give up, legs and feet from dancing, arms and core from trying to pull off lifts he, and everyone else knows he’s never been able to do. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Chika still practicing, sweat staining her leotard and hair starting to fall from its bun but moves still precise and perfect. He feels sorry for her, often cast in the principal female role, she’s danced with many talented guys and now she’s stuck with him. Not that Izumi is a bad dancer, far from it, but the certain parts of the choreography they’re doing is far outside of Izumi’s physical capabilities. No one with half a brain would give Izumi anything with lifts and yet here he is faced with not only a shoulder sit but a bluebird lift too. Any actual dancing he’s fine with, more than fine with but as soon as he goes to do the either of the pas de deux’s lifts, he feels like a 5 year old attempting the syllabus of grades far above him all over again. Lost, weak and frustrated.

Variation coming to an end, Chika’s breathing replaces the background noise the music had been providing. A look at her face and the way she sways slightly as she goes to grab her towel from where it hangs on the barre, it’s clear to him that she too, needs a rest.

“How are you holding up?” She pants, sliding not too gracefully down onto the floor beside him.

“I can probably give it another go once you’ve caught your breath but it’s not going to be any better today.” He complains, “I still don’t know what the hell she was thinking.”

No one did, for a male ballet dancer Izumi has appalling upper body strength, to the point where it’s become a bit of a joke amongst the other dancers at his studio. When the cast list had gone up on the studio’s noticeboard, there’d been a lot of murmurs and jokes about how Izumi would have to perform the dance without the lifts.

“She wants to force you to get stronger, if you weren’t useless at lifts you’d be getting pushed to audition for companies.” She says, breathing starting to even out. “I think I’ll call it a day here, I’ve still got a class this afternoon to get through.”

Pushing himself upright he groans slightly. He’s not trying to become a ballet dancer, it’s not even something he’s considered. Ballet helps keep his weight down, gives him good posture and is enjoyable when it isn’t making every muscle in his body scream. That’s it. No career dreams or anything like that. He doesn’t even have time to think about things like that. Now that he’s picking up modelling jobs again, it’s a wonder that between that and idol activities, he’s managing to find the time for this show.

“She knows I don’t want to do this professionally. If I have to hear one more rant from her about how my potential is wasted on idol dancing I’m going to just walk out.”  His fingers brush through his hair in frustration and he’s disgusted by how damp it is from sweat. “I should just step down and let Shou-kun do it, you dance better with him any way and he’s done Bluebird before. Ugh, this whole thing is annoying”

“If you dare do that I’ll quit too, we’re not talking right now.” She starts to undo the ribbons on one of her shoes, picking at the knot in frustration. “Before you ask, it’s complicated, I’m not going into it.”

He can’t help but roll his eyes.

“Yeah, I really don’t care about any of that.” He grumbles, deciding to change the subject in case she does decide to confide in him about something he could not care less about. “At this rate we may as well swap parts, you have more of a chance of lifting me than I do you.”

“I’m sure you’ll look lovely in a tutu.” She retorts, “You don’t have the ankle strength for pointe, dumbass. Honestly, if you’re just trying to injure yourself to get out of this then go quit.”

“I was kidding, I’m not an idiot.” Stretching his back, he hears it click grossly.

“I didn’t know you knew how to joke.” She deadpans.

“Ugh, whatever.” Standing up his head spins, a reminder that he really needs to eat before meeting with the rest of Knights for unit practice later. “Let’s just forget the lifts for now and focus on the rest of the choreography, one or both of us are going to end up hurt at this rate and I don’t have time to for injuries.”

“I’ll have a talk to her this afternoon.” She calls after him as he picks up his dance bag on the way to the door.

“Don’t. Not yet, I’ll figure it out.”He blurts out. The dance doesn’t make as much sense without the lifts and he’s pretty sure the bluebird lift was named because of it’s existence in this pas de deux. As much as he’s certain they’re outside of his capabilities, he can’t bring himself to actually admit defeat yet. “Alright, I’m off.”

As the studio door swings closed behind him he finds himself sinking to the floor. The situation was already far from ideal and he’s just made things worse for himself by being stubborn. Most of the time ballet is a nice aside from his general life, a chance to switch off his mind from his real troubles and focus on the steps and the music. Right now it’s anything but that; just another thing on the pile of worries and stresses that have him seriously having to watch that he’s not scowling so much that he’ll get wrinkles from it.

\-------

As expected on a Sunday afternoon, the school is almost empty as he makes his way through the halls to the practice room Knights has booked. The others won’t be due to arrive for another hour or so , giving him time to practice his solo portion of the dance. With so much rehearsal time taken up getting him up to par on his pas de deux work, he’s hardly been able to touch it. Hopefully his meagre lunch will have settled in his stomach by the time he’s done his warm up stretches. Stress from this entire ballet is situation is making the food sit uncomfortably; anxieties over food that are usually mostly calmed by micro-managing everything that goes into his mouth making themselves very known.

Humming reaches his ears as he pushes open the door and his heart sinks slightly. More important than potentially being unable to practice now, he was hoping he’d have a chance to compose himself slightly more before anyone saw him. It’s a small blessing that there’s papers spread out over a portion of the floor rather than writing on the walls. Leo engrossed in transferring the music in his head to paper. Maybe he’ll have time to wipe the worry from his face by the time he looks up.

He’s got his bag on the floor, searching through it for his gym uniform by the time Leo notices his presence, a smile spreading across his features.

“Sena! Is it time already? Huh, I must have gotten so lost in the music that it past by me!” Throwing back his head Leo laughs.

“I came in early to practice, you can keep composing.” He says, shrugging off his jacket.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” Leo’s expression and tone abruptly changes.

“It’s nothing, Ousama.” Of course Leo would pick up on something being wrong. He’s either entirely oblivious or uncomfortably perceptive.

“Hmmmm, well if you say so.” Leo sounds sceptical but picks up his pen again.

Going to tug his shirt over his head, the heavy, uncomfortable reminder of his lunch stops him. Sighing he drops his arms to his sides and double checks that Leo definitely isn’t watching. It’s stupid, unreasonable and yet, he can’t stop the sick feeling that somehow he’s overeaten, that it’s already showing on his body. Anxiety increases as he goes over the exact calorie amount, how much of his meal was protein, fat or carbs, how many calories he’s presumably burnt today already. He’s exactly on track. Knowing that is still not enough to quell the tightness in his chest and churning in his stomach. Breathing deeply he tries to calm himself, closing his eyes regardless as he quickly changes shirts, not wanting to catch his reflection in one of the rooms many mirrors.

Eyes still closed, he runs his hands over the flat plane of his stomach through the fabric of his t-shirt, taking some comfort in the fact he can’t feel any fat over the top of his pathetic amount of muscle. A curious hum from Leo brings him back into the now. Whipping his head confirms his fear.

“Are you really Sena?” Leo has his head cocked, pen resting against his lip.

“Yeah I’m really Sena.” Letting his hands drop from his stomach he shakes his head, trying to snap himself out of this. “Continue with your song, as I said, it’s nothing.”

“The music’s gone.” He says sadly looking around the sheets of music around him before turning his attention back to Izumi. “Maybe it will come back if you tell me.”

“It’s just a ballet thing, it’s not really a big deal.” Bending forwards he puts his hands flat on the floor in front of his feet, knees still locked straight. “Tell your inspiration to come back or if it wont, tidy up your mess a bit.”

He feels bad being so short with Leo but the sooner he can be dancing, burning away both the calories from his lunch and hopefully his own self doubts, the better.

“Nope! I’m gunna leave it all out until you tell me what’s wrong!” Leo starts laughing again and Izumi doesn’t respond, focusing on breathing and remembering the critique he’s gotten on his technique as he runs through his stretches and warm ups.

Entire body still feeling heavy and weighted down, the leaps at the start of his first solo section take vastly more effort than usual and by the time he gets to the beats, every movement is far too sloppy. As he dances he’s willing to pass it off as still warming up, he’ll get it down next time. Consoling himself like only lasts until he falls half a rotation short on his tours en l’iar and lands too heavily on his knee still trying to stick the final pose. Pain briefly shoots through the joint but he can tell it’s nothing serious, just a stupid mistake he’s paying for because he wasn’t focused enough. Gritting his teeth in frustration he rips his head phones from his ears.

Rather than silence or faint humming, his ears are met by loud laughter.

“That was terrible!” Leo laughs, “You’re an imposter, I knew it! Sena would never dance that badly.”

“I’m not an imposter, I just suck.” Standing up, he tests his knee. Definitely nothing serious, “I said it was a ballet issue that had me stressed and there’s the proof.”

“You forgot how to dance? Wait! That’s bad for Knights too! Can you still do our choreography or is it all dancing you suck at now?” Leo asks frantically and wide eyed.

“Calm down, it’s just ballet and I didn’t forget I just-” Sighing he pauses the music still playing from his mp3 player and makes his way over to Leo. “How much do you know about ballet?”

“Mmmmm, not much? I know that you look beautiful doing it, usually. Oh! And that you all did it with Nazu and his kids when I wasn’t here.” Shifting around pieces of paper, Leo clears a space for him and pats the floor for him to sit.

“I’d hardly call what we did ballet, Naru-kun was the only one remotely able to keep up with me.” Accepting Leo’s offer he joins him on the floor. “You at least know that there’s partner dances right, with a guy and a girl?”

“They’re called, part de- something, right?” Leo looks proud for being able to sort of guess the French words.

“Pas de deux. At least you know what I’m talking about. I don’t really get given them, ever, usually they have lifts in them.” _And I don’t get along with many people at my studio so there are probably a lot of girls who would refuse to dance with me_ , “And trying to coordinate practices with whoever I’m dancing with when I’ve got so much else on can be impossible at times.”

“If you don’t get given them then why are we talking about them?” Stretching out like a cat Leo lays on his front, resting his chin on a hand when he’s settled.

“I wouldn’t be worried if I hadn’t been given one.” He complains. “There’s only two lifts in it but I can’t do either of them.”

 “What is it? Do I like it?”

“Ousama, how am I meant to know if you like it or not? You just said you know nothing about ballet.” He responds baffled. “It’s from Sleeping Beauty, I suppose if you’re going to know a ballet, that’s one of the big ones.”

“I know who wrote the music for some of them though? I can probably tell from that.” He says it so naturally that Izumi doesn’t even doubt his ability to do so. “Mmmm, Sleeping Beauty…. Tchaikovsky. Yep! I like that one~”

“Like as in you’ve seen it or like as in you just like his music?” Izumi asks, already knowing it’s the latter.

“The music. I know I’ll like the ballet too! Because Sena’s in it.” Heat rushes to Izumi’s cheeks and despite trying to tell himself that no, he’s not going to blush over something like that, he knows he’s blushing. “Maybe I’ll only like Sena’s version though, I’ll have to come watch.”

“I’m not Prince Désiré or anything, I’ve only got a pas de deux in the 3rd act.” He says, deflecting Leo’s compliments and trying to ignore the warm  feeling in his chest. “I’m not even in the rest of the ballet because I’m too busy with other idol and model work to be able to make all the rehearsals.”

“I’m still gunna come watch it, and I’ll cheer really loud for you!” He exclaims

 Rolling onto his back, Leo stretches his arms above his head, exposing some of his stomach as his gym uniform shirt rides up. Despite how strange conversations with Leo can be at times, Izumi can’t help but be weak to him when he’s this cute.

“You can’t cheer at a ballet, you have to be composed and just clap where appropriate.” The image of Leo embarrassing himself in a theatre flashes through his mind and suddenly he’s wondering if it is such a good idea for him to watch. “If you do come, and you do cheer, I’ll tell Ruka about the time that yo-”

Suddenly there are hands covering his mouth haphazardly, fingers slipping between his lips as Leo panics to shut him up.

“You can’t tell her.” He gasps, sounding scandalised that Izumi would threaten something so underhanded, “I’ll be so good that you won’t even know I’m there.”

The words tug at his heart uncomfortably. Now that Leo’s suggested it, he wants to know that he’s there supporting him. Just, in a more composed, acceptable manner.

“Let me know what night you’re going if you do come?” and now he sounds needy, fantastic.

“Yep! And then you’ll have to remind me so I don’t forget. I’ll die if I miss it because I forgot what day it was.”

“Don’t die for something like that, you idiot.” He scolds, rolling his eyes as Leo only laughs in response.

Silence falls between them and while he knows he should get up and give the dance a go again, he can’t quite bring himself too. Stretching his legs he confirms his knee is fine and the guilt from what he’s eaten still weighs on him so his reluctance doesn’t make sense. Beside him Leo is on his back, arms raised above his head again and smiling softly he gazes at the ceiling. Sun from one of the room’s high windows falls across his hair, loose in its ponytail it resembles wild flames, contrasting with the serene expression on his face; it’s not a sight Izumi wants to forget. Things make slightly more sense when he considers that. He doesn’t quite want to move away, not knowing if or when he’ll see him like this again.

His fingers find their way to a sheet of paper on the floor, a harsh black marker scribbles out the notes but he can still make them out if he really pays attention. Hesitantly he starts to hum the tune. Not as good at reading music as Leo or Ritsu, he initially wonders if he’s gotten it wrong. It’s clashing, clumsy and as it goes on, almost like a very dissonant version of the Bluebird music starting from his own solo. It dawns on him that this is what Leo must have written while watching him dance, that this is how watching him must have sounded to him.

A hand snatches the sheet of paper from him and throws it out of his reach. Leo looks confused and slightly angry and Izumi can understand why. To Leo the failed music must seem like his own fault, a failure in his inspiration.

“Stop! It’s bad and rubbish and I never want to hear it again.” Complaining, Leo searches the floor for the other scribbled out sheets and moves them out of Izumi’s reach too.

He could just leave things here but he has to make sure his suspicions are right.

“Did you write that while I was dancing?”

Leo hesitates before nodding.

“Have you ever heard the music for the Bluebird pas de deux?” Reaching to his waist band he unclips his mp3 player and hands it over to Leo.

“Nope, why?” Taking the device curiously, he sits the ear buds in his ears.

“Just listen.”

The expression of curiosity on Leo’s face soon changes to realisation as the song goes on. Still listening, Leo reaches behind himself, into his own bag and produces his phone. Izumi’s more amazed that Leo actually has it on him than he is curious as to what he’s doing with it.

“What did you say it was called? The dance?” Leo asks, fingers tapping at his screen.

“If you’re searching it on youtube there should be a couple of versions under bluebird pas de deux if you search in romaji.” Izumi responds.

“Ah, it’s no good, I don’t know how to type it.” Leo shoves his phone at Izumi and he has to stifle a laugh. He’s spelt bluebird correctly but the word is followed by ‘pa de dur’. “Senaaaa, do it for me.”

“What am I? Your mother?” He responds as he corrects Leo’s spelling, “Aren’t a lot of music terms in French?”

“Yep but if I learn too many French words I’ll start sounding like Shu and,” Leo doesn’t finish his sentence, choosing to just poke his tongue out instead.

The first thing he does after taking the phone back is turn off the media volume. While watching the Russian dancers perform he starts to hum along, the tune identical to what Izumi had just had him listen to. It’s incredible really, the way Leo’s brain works, a genius working on a level that no matter how hard he tries, Izumi will never completely understand. He’s so caught up in watching Leo’s expression’s that he doesn’t notice the video has been paused.

“Is this the thing you suck at?” Finger pointed at the screen, Leo has it paused on the shoulder sit.

“Yeah that’s one of them. In theory it’s the simpler one but lifting someone straight up in the air and onto my shoulder is a lot for me. The other one-” Reaching over he skips to just before the bluebird lift and hits play. “If I get it wrong, I’m going to drop her on her face.”

Not answering immediately, Leo continues to hum along quietly as the video plays.

“Are you scared?” He asks as the video comes to an end.

“Of what? Dropping her?” Leo nods, “I’d be stupid not to be, I think she’s scared of me dropping her too.”

“Are you scared of dropping me?” He follows with.

“No. I’m not lifting you” He raises an eyebrow, unsure where Leo’s going with this. “And if you say you’re putting a lift in the choreography for a new song, give it to Naru-kun, I refuse.”

Laughing, Leo skips back to the lifts and re-watches them.

“I’m not scared of you dropping me, Sena.” If this is a metaphor for something, he’s seriously lost. He’s just as lost if Leo’s being literal. “I think you’re having so much trouble because you’re scared. We could do it.”

“No way.” Realising what Leo means he wants to ask if he’s an idiot. He’s probably a good 10kg heavier than Chika for a start. “Even if I wasn’t too weak, you’ve never done ballet and there’s still ballet technique involved in the lifts.”

Putting his phone and Izumi’s mp3 player down, Leo stands up and makes his way over to where the floor isn’t littered with papers. Somewhat clumsily he mimics the attitude and relevé from before the shoulder sit.

“See, it can’t be that hard if I just have to copy the moves from before you pick me up.” He looks as if he’s about to attempt moving his body like he would need to for the bluebird lift before stopping. “I can’t do this one without you, Sena, come here.”

“As I said, Ousama. No way.” He responds firmly as he pushes himself up from the floor, picking up his mp3 player on the way. “Go sit down again or something, I’m running through my solo until I don’t screw it up.”

“Nope! I’m staying right here until you say you’ll try lift me!” Throwing his head back, Leo laughs. “This is an order from your King.”

In a way, Izumi can see where he’s coming from. Being scared of hurting Chika aside, he doesn’t feel comfortable with her and he knows she feels the same way. He wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing he was going to be lifted by a guy with a reputation for being physically weak. Leo trusts him though and that goes a long way in a lift. Perhaps if he can nail the lifts with Leo and let Chika know that he’s able to do them now, they’ll both have an easier time trusting they’ll work. However that doesn’t change the fact he’s more afraid of hurting Leo with a bad lift than he is Chika. Vastly more afraid.

“Look, I’ve already tried them this morning with the girl I’m dancing with, I really will drop you if we do them now.” He still doesn’t have any real intention to attempt the lifts with Leo but hopefully what he’s about to say satisfies him. “We’ve got the room booked until Wednesday, right? Maybe Tuesday before unit practice, I can’t spare any time tomorrow.”

“I knew you’d come around!” Arms wrap themselves tightly around his waist and Leo laughs. “I love you Sena! I’ll let you practice now!”

As always, he has to remind himself that Leo means nothing by those words. It leaves a slightly bitter taste in his mouth as he watches Leo run back to his corner of mess.

“Stop saying that when you don’t mean it.” Shoving his earbuds back into his ears and pressing play, he doesn’t hear if Leo gives him a response.


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

_‘Get more height, don’t be sloppy with your beats, watch your turn out on your landings, keep that tension out of your arms….’_

The words resound in his head as he dances making it impossible to focus on actually performing. His only real thoughts are that hopefully he’s done well enough that he’s not about to be shouted at again as soon as the music stops.

“You’re distracted.” Cutting and cruel, the words start as soon as the last note finishes. “Usually you aren’t like this, what is it, spit it out.”

What he wants to respond with is that she’s currently his biggest distraction. All the nitpicks and insults only serving to further break his confidence about this dance. However talking back would be essentially a death sentence.

“It’s nothing Kato-sensei.”

“Obviously it’s not nothing or you wouldn’t be dancing so awfully.” Arms crossed in front of her severe, skeletal frame, a finger taps impatiently. “Come on, I don’t have time for lies or deception or whatever you kids are calling it these days.”

Taking a second to steady his breathing he prepares himself for a lecture.

“I haven’t been able to do either of the lifts with Chika.” His voice sounds small and nervous, not at all like the Sena Izumi known by his friends and fans. “I’m just worried about that.”

The sigh he gets in response is as much filled with disappointment as it is frustration. Both emotions are evident on her face as well.

“It was for that reason that I was reluctant to give you this part in the first place. Did I tell you that already? No? Well there we are.” Raising an eyebrow as she stares at him, Izumi feels like she can read every thought and emotion he’s feeling. “I’ve been teaching ballet for 30 years now and I’ve only ever taught 3 boys who were unable to do as much as a shoulder sit at your age. None of those boys had the technique or artistry you have when you dance so their patheticness didn’t matter, there was nothing lost in them being unable to do a lift. With you it’s the difference between a promising young principal and someone who’s just wasting his time here.”

There’s so much he could respond with, so much he wants to and yet all he can do is grit his teeth and nod. Most people who know him outside of the studio blame his bitter and mean personality entirely on the modelling world and growing up there. As much truth as there is to that, he can’t pretend that being on the receiving end of lectures like this since a young age has nothing to do with it either.

“Now, I know that you’re always busy with one thing or another but I highly recommend you get a gym membership or even just some weights at home to start working on your strength. Chika is one of the few girls here who couldn’t do with losing a few kilos so it shouldn’t take much.” With a shake of her head she turns away from him, making her way over to the CD player in the corner of the room. “Now. Once more through and then you can go.”

Tirade finally over, he lets himself breathe. He has absolutely no intention of trying to bulk up, he can’t really, not without risking hurting his modelling career. Sure models like Arashi may have built their look as much on having a toned frame as having a pretty face but that’s never been his thing. Delicate and slender, a lot of his bookings come from the fact he has a more ethereal look. Something that would be ruined by too much muscle.

Adjusting the bobby pins keeping his fringe out of his eyes, he moves to the back corner of the room. Literally no part of him wants to dance again right now but he has to clear his mind and focus. As the music starts, anxiety writhes in his stomach and he can already tell that he’s going to be incredibly lucky if he gets through it without a mistake.

 

\-----

 

“Yes Mama, I know.” Warily he eyes the sleeping figure of Ritsu in the corner of the studio, hoping he’s managing to sleep through his conversation. Ideally Izumi would have found a completely empty room to take this call but with his  battery running low and not much time left of lunch, he’s ended up in the first semi-private place where he can plug in his phone.

“No, I know she wants me to but you know I can’t. Even if I did start, there aren’t enough calories in my diet for me to gain muscle anyway, it’d be pointless.”

“I still can’t believe she rung you about all this. Ugh, Ousama offered to help me with the lifts and I’ve got so little to lose at this point that I may as well go for it.”

A small groan from the corner of the room draws his attention back to Ritsu.

“Secchan?” He mumbles, words so slurred that Izumi isn’t entirely sure he’s not just sleep talking.

“I won’t, if he’s too heavy then obviously I’m not going to push myself.” Slowly red eyes blink themselves into focus, confirming that Ritsu’s definitely not sleep talking. “Look I’ve got to go, I’ll see you after unit practice.”

“No don’t save any for me, I’ll cook for myself.”

“Yes I promise I’ll actually do it this time, I didn’t eat last night because I was too tired to cook by the time I got home, that’s all.”

“You too.”

Pressing the red phone on his screen he checks the time. Ten minutes before lunch break is over. Probably not enough time to find where ever Leo might be to tell him that okay maybe he does want to try out the lifts with him. There’s definitely a part of him that’s still concerned but if his teacher has resorted to calling his mother, then he may as well give it a go.

“Were you talking to yourself?” Rubbing his eyes Ritsu sits up slowly, “Ah, it’s finally happened, Secchan really has lost it this time~”

Making a point to ignore him, Izumi opens line and starts tapping out a message.

_‘In case you forgot, which you probably did, make sure you’re at the practice room an hour early this afternoon.’_

There’s a good chance Leo wont, or depending on where it is, can’t check his phone. It’s worth a try anyway, he figures as he hits send.

“Rude.” Ritsu yawns.

“I was talking on the phone, Kuma-kun.” He says finally acknowledging the others existence. “Don’t go back to sleep, lunch is almost over.”

Ritsu fixes him a blank stare before laying down again.

“Mmmm, but I’m still tired. Night~”

He’s about to say more when his phone vibrates loudly on the shelf where it’s charging.

_‘I didn’t forget! I wouldn’t forget something important like that! I’ll see you then Sena!!!!’_

A small smile tugs at his lips as he reads the message and he’s thankful Ritsu decided to go back to sleep or he’d be teasing him about who the message is from.

 

\-----

 

While finding the practice room empty when Izumi had arrived at the designated time had been no surprise, the continued absence of Leo as he gets to the end of his stretches is disappointing to say the least. It’s just as likely he’s forgotten to check the time as it is that he’s forgotten completely but after his assurance that he wouldn’t forget, Izumi can’t help but feel slightly hurt.

It’s not until he’s fully resigned to Leo not showing up until the rest of Knights arrive that a ball of orange haired energy crashes into the room. Hair awry and a twig hanging off his blazer’s elbow, his arrival has brought more questions than it has answers.

“Sena! I’m late aren’t I? Little John got stuck in a bush and I had to help her you see.” Rambling as runs towards him, Leo’s smiling brightly despite his tardiness and messy appearance.

“I was thinking you’d never show up.” He mutters, giving Leo a proper once over. “How does a cat get stuck in a bush anyway?”

“You’ve met Little John, she’s very fat.” Laughing, Leo starts to shed his layers to get changed.

It’s hard to stay annoyed at Leo for being late when his reason for being late is something as innocent and pure as helping out a cat.

“Stretch and warm up, we’ve lost a lot of time already.” A hand against the wall in lieu of a barre, Izumi starts his own warm ups.

Watching Leo stretch is always interesting. Not only because he’s unconventional and weird and flexible in ways that don’t even make sense. But also because as he bends forwards or leans back and arches his back, Izumi gets peaks of his smooth skin, flat stomach and gentle curve of his hips.

“I learnt the girls part, but I’m not very good at it.” Leo’s says as he tries to flatten his chest onto the floor between his legs. “And half of it is all leaning on you and so that stuff I’m even worse at.”

Pausing half way through a set of grande battement, he looks at Leo quizzically.

“You did?” He asks, “You know you’re only helping me figure out the lifts, right?”

“Yep!” He smiles. “But it looked fun.”

“Good for you.” He tries not to be bitter that someone is having fun with this dance. “Alright let’s start this. Come into the middle of the floor.”

Waiting for Leo to push himself up and out of his stretch, he wipes his hands on his pants. He’s pretty sure they aren’t sweating but on the off chance they are, he doesn’t want Leo feeling that against his waist.

“I won’t try to lift you onto my shoulder right off the bat but if you just.” Closing his feet in fifth position he does a sauté, getting as much height on the simple jump as possible. “Do that when I count from three and I’ll lift you up and down again.”

Repeating his movement, Leo looks at him for approval. If there’s one thing Leo is excellent at, it’s getting good height which gives Izumi more hope of pulling this off than he’d previously had.

“Like that?”

“Yeah like that.”

The first thing that hits him as he closes his hands around Leo’s waist is how slender it is. Tight, toned and warm through the thin fabric of his t-shirt. While his hands probably weren’t sweating before, they definitely are now. It takes more effort than he’d ever admit to switch his thinking back over to dancing.

“Three… Two…  One.”

The timing is off and Leo’s laughing as he tightens his grip to try and lift him. It’s still not the worst turn out they could have had on their first try.

“That tickles!”

Their second and third tries have just as much success as the first. Izumi’s pretty sure all he’s succeeding in doing is torturing himself with their close proximity.

“Hey, you’re going to have to get used to my hands being on you if-” Pausing he arranges his words in a less potentially embarrassing way. “I’ll move them up a bit. Let’s try having you _plié_ , uh, bend your knees before the jump on the three, it might be easier that way.”

“Three…. Two…. One… and-”

Elated and bright, Leo’s laughter comes from success rather than unfortunate hand placement. Izumi finds himself smiling as he sets him back on the floor.

“Sena, I flew!” Whipping around to face Izumi, joy exudes from him. “Let’s do it again!”

Leo’s cute celebrations of successful lifts don’t stop as they confirm that they’ve got their timing right. It’s nerve wracking for Izumi, knowing the next step is to try and get him onto his shoulder but looking at his cheerful grin and shining eyes, he feels like perhaps, if it’s Leo it’s going to be okay.

“Alright, keep your back really straight and tighten your core.” Pretty much exactly what he’s been doing, Izumi thinks. Leo’s the fastest learner of anyone he’s tried to do this with. “Did you want to watch the video again before we do this?”

Shaking his head wildly, Leo gets into position.

“I remember it.”

“I’ll soon know if you do or not.” He comments, wiping his hands off again before they take their place on his waist. “Three…. Two…. One…. And- shit.”

Arms failing him, he can’t manage anything after straightening his arms; his strength completely leaving him with Leo above his head. It’s lucky that he doesn’t completely drop him, although with the heavy landing he does and how Izumi himself falls to his knees after the attempt it’s still far from a clean failure.

“Ah, did I do it wrong?” He asks.

“No, that was my fault.” He admits as he rights himself. His confidence in being able to succeed at the lift dropping again.

The subsequent attempts end almost the same way. One thing Izumi is now sure of though, is that Leo really is too heavy for him to succeed at this lift with. Technique and perseverance can only get so far.

“Yeah we’re not going to get this.” Dropping his hands from Leo’s waist, he can feel his pessimistic attitude toward this whole situation returning fast.

“Don’t give up so soon, Sena.” Leo says uncharacteristically seriously.

“I’m not giving up, it’s just the truth. You’re doing it perfectly and our timing is great, you’re just too heavy.” Finding his water he takes a deep drink from the bottle. His arms feel lifeless and even if he was in the mood to try the bluebird lift after that failure, they need a rest.

“Like Little John? I’ll get stuck in the bushes too!” Leo at least sees the funny side of the situation as he laughs.

“Don’t compare yourself to that cat.” Taking in Leo’s body, hands still remembering how small he’d felt in them, he’s in disbelief that he’d say something like that. Then again if he ever voiced his own body concerns at a time when his anxiety about it is flaring up, other people would probably think the same in regards to him. “You’re not fat, Ousama.”

“Will you stop telling me off when I eat junk food then? Nag, nag, nag, Sena’s such a meanie.” Leo teases.

“No cause you really shouldn’t be eating that shit. You, Kasa-kun and Kuma-kun are all terrible. Even Naru-kun’s bad.” Izumi shakes his head before leaning forwards over his legs in a half assed stretch.

At least, when it’s Leo he’s failing to lift, the small successes they have bring the fun back to ballet. Before their failures cause reality to come crashing back down again. Closing his eyes he tries to relax.

Faintly he can hear the music for the cursed pas de deux playing in his head, as if taunting him. Maybe Ritsu‘s right and he really has lost it if he’s imagining things like this. The song doesn’t stop, only getting louder; drumming at his mind and picking at his mental state. Forced to open his eyes again, searching for relief he notices Leo’s begun dancing, the steps awfully familiar. And then two and two slot together.

The somewhat crude rendition of the girls half of the dance is accompanied by a humming from Leo. The tune perfectly matching up in timing to the one Izumi had thought was a cruel creation of his imagination. Forcing himself out of his own mind he straightens up and watches. Slowly by focusing on the movements of Leo’s lithe body, he finds himself starting to calm down. It’s bizarre, usually he’s irritated by people who have never learnt ballet attempting the choreography but he can’t bring himself to hate what he’s watching. While the dance is more modernised, ballet technique replaced by technique he’s learnt from idol dancing, it’s not terrible. What’s more, is Leo looks like he’s genuinely enjoying himself doing it. Both the smile on his face when he nails something and the way his tongue pokes out in concentration when he can’t quite get a move down have Izumi’s heart fluttering as he watches. There’s a million words he could potentially reach for to explain him but the only one his mind supplies is _‘cute’_.

“Sena, it’s your part!” Leo calls, changing Izumi’s role from audience to performer in the show that he’s been sitting in the front row seat for.

“I still need to rest if we want to try the other lift today, Ousama.” He half lies. Doing his solo would tire him out a bit but the strain on his arms would be minimal. He can’t just admit that he’s enjoying watching though. That would be far too embarrassing.

“Then I’ll do your part too! I’m both the bird and the Princess now.” Obviously having not paid quite as much attention to the choreography for this part, Leo can only manage a rough approximation of the order of the steps. “Ah, that’s an interesting combination! I’m getting inspired~”

“Tell your inspiration to hold off for a bit can you? If you start writing a song now we’ll never get anywhere.” Complaining, he resolves to stand up. Maybe his arms have had enough rest now to start working towards trying their next lift. Besides, if he doesn’t step in now, Leo is very likely to get distracted by whatever music’s begging to be written and run off to get it on paper. Or a wall.

“Oh? You’re joining me. I thought you said you needed to rest.” He laughs as he moves on to the Princess’ solo.

“You’re the one who’s going to rest if he keeps uselessly expending energy like that. Seriously Ousama, we’ve still got unit practice after this.” Moving over to Leo he hopes he’ll take the hint now to stop.

“Nope, I feel like I can keep going forever and ever.” Despite his confident words his breathing is starting to get laboured. “Come on Sena, teach me to fly~”

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Izumi doesn’t move from where he stands.

“I’ll teach you to fly by hopefully not dropping you on your face trying to do this other lift, okay?”

That gets Leo to stop. His chest heaves slightly as he makes his was over to Izumi and beads of sweat are starting to form at his hairline. So much for being able to go forever and ever, but Izumi can’t deny that it’s a good look on him.

“I think all the versions of the dance online have them doing a version of this that needs a bit more muscle. It’s a bit different from how I’ve been taught anyway.” He starts to say, thinking about how to explain things. It suddenly hits him that he’s not actually sure Leo has the leg strength to do things his way.

“So there’s a Russian way and a Sena way?” Leo muses.

“More like an everyone else way and a Sena way.” He retorts. Putting his weight on his left leg he développés into a high second, “I don’t know if you can hold your leg here but if you can at least get it around this high so I can get my arm under it, that’s where we’re starting.”

Watching Leo’s attempts he definitely hasn’t developed the muscles necessary to hold his leg in such a place. Every attempt quickly falling to below 90 degrees. A frustrated growl forms in the back of his throat and determination settles on his face as he gives it his best.

“Okay thought so, just do a high side kick and I’ll catch your leg then.” He says, simplifying things into a step and language he knows Leo will understand.

Things go far more smoothly like that. Easily catching Leo’s leg he tries not to think about the fact his arm is about 30 centimetres away from his crotch. As long as he keeps his mind on the task at hand, not the body that’s soon to be rolling up onto his shoulder, he finds himself thinking that maybe, just maybe they’ll pull this one off. Leo’s definitely adapting easily to his style of doing things and as he’d said on Sunday, not being scared of Izumi really does go a long way.

“Ready?”

“Yep!” Leo says cheerfully as Izumi catches his leg and braces himself to take his weight.

It’s feels like a miracle has happened. A miracle with a lot of wobbling and unsteadiness, where he accidentally grabs Leo’s ass hard trying to steady him on his shoulder but a miracle nonetheless.

“Sena! We did it!” He cheers from his precariously balanced place on Izumi’s shoulder.

“Uh yeah, we did.” Happiness and shock have control of his brain, rendering him not quite able to think of a proper response.

“This time I’m flying for real!” As he laughs hard, Izumi can’t help but smile too.

The moment can’t last forever however. Very quickly the strain on his arms from holding Leo in such a strange position takes its toll.

“Shit, I need to get you down or I really will drop you.” He panics. He knows in theory how to get him off his shoulder but it requires coordination and probably more strength than is currently remaining in his arms.

“Like this?” Without warning Leo starts to roll off his shoulder. Unprepared, he can’t do much to properly support him. Things feel like they’re going in slow motion and fast forward all at once as he scrambles to catch him in some way.

“Ousama!” Crying out desperately as if it will somehow help, his voice breaks.

Inelegant is perhaps the nicest word to describe the pile of limbs they end up in. Panting heavily from exertion and adrenaline. A groan from Leo causes his heart to jump into his throat. If he’s hurt Leo doing this, he’ll never forgive himself. Never mind that this stupid, reckless practice was his idea in the first place.

“Ah, Senaaaaa.” He whines, holding his elbow and wincing.

The first thought in his mind is that he must have broken his arm by landing on it badly. Regret, guilt and fear wash over him in waves.

“Shit. I. Is it okay?” He asks frantically, not sure if he wants to hear the response he’s going to get.

“Ah yeah, it’s fine, it’s fine~”

A gentle _‘ahem’_ breaks draws both of their attention. Whipping his head to the source of the noise reveals a rather amused looking Arashi, one eyebrow raised in a questioning expression.

“Oh my~ This isn’t what I thought I was hearing at all. You can come in honey, they’re clothed.”

Resolving to deal with him after he knows Leo is actually okay, he chooses to ignore him.

“Ousama, are you sure you’re fine?”

“I only hit my funny bone, don’t be such a worrywart Sena! Did you ever think about how they’re called funny bones but aren’t funny? How interesting!” Throwing his head back and laughing, Leo proves the he’s probably not hurt. Probably not. It’s entirely possible he’s hiding an injury to save Izumi from feeling bad but at least things aren’t serious if that is the case. He'have to make completely certain later. “Naru~ Hi!”

“Hello Ousama~” Arashi calls back.

“Ah, good afternoon Leader, Sena-senpai.”

At Tsukasa’s voice he finally starts to untangle himself from Leo, realising that yeah, this position might be rather compromising. Which brings him right back to Arashi’s way of announcing his presence.

“Oi, Naru-kun, what the hell did you think you were over hearing?” He wants to complain that if Arashi’s hinting at what he thinks he’s hinting at, that he doesn’t sound anything like that but he’d rather not incriminate himself.

“Things that it would be totally unlady-like for me to specify~” He teases. “Besides, Izumi-chan, it wouldn’t be the first time.”

It takes a lot of self control and a lot of focusing on the fact he and Leo somewhat succeeded at the harder of the two lifts to stop himself letting Arashi know exactly how much he wants to kill him right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kato-sensei may or may not be based heavily on my own ballet teacher (she is).


	3. Chapter 3

Sweaty and sore, yet somehow satisfied, Izumi wipes his forehead off on a towel. For the first time since they started learning the pas de deux, he actually feels like it’s approaching something performable. They’ve yet to try it with the lifts again, he hasn’t even told Chika he’s been working on them with someone but asides from that, things are starting to improve. More importantly, where there is still frustration at his personal failures, he’s starting to enjoy ballet again.

“You seem happier than last time I saw you.” Chika comments as she removes her water bottle from her lips. “What happened? Get laid recently?”

Glancing at a hickey on breast, just poking out of the neckline of her leotard he rolls his eyes.

“Not as recently as you.” It’s almost funny how fast she blushes and adjusts her leotard to cover it.

“Shou-chan and I reconciled.” She says, which is all the explanation he needs.

“Great.”

“It is great for you.” Shoving her bottle back into her bag she starts re-doing her bun. “If you really wanted to swap out with him you can now.”

He briefly wonders if he’d have actually taken her up on the offer if she’d said yes when he’d first asked if she wanted to dance with her boyfriend? Lover? Friend with benefits? initially. Probably not, no matter how down he may have been feeling about the entire situation.

“Nah, we’re finally starting to get the hang of things.” Pausing, he decides he may as well let her know that there’s hope of him nailing the lifts as well. “I’ve managed to do the bluebird lift with someone I’m practicing with too. Still can’t do the shoulder sit but they’re heavier than you are.”

“You managed to find another girl willing to put up with you? Incredible.” The response is about as much as he’d expect from her. “Do you want to try them?”

“With you? Maybe next time.” Trying to act as if he’s just denying her because he’s bored now, he brushes her off. “It’s getting late and I’ve still got homework to take care of.”

 

\-----

 

When Izumi had suggested sneaking Leo into the studio to practice with him, he hadn’t expected him to come up with an elaborate plan involving climbing through windows. On second thought though, he’s not all that surprised that Leo had wanted to do such a thing. The disappointment on his face when Izumi let him know he could just walk through the door with a hoodie on and hiding his hair had been almost comical though.

“There’s lots of windows in here.” He comments, taking in the layout of the room as he enters. “You should have let me come in through one, Sena.”

“Why are you so fixated on that idea? If someone had seen you they’d have thought you were a thief.” Pushing gently on Leo’s back he moves him out of the door frame so he can close the door behind them.

“Why would someone rob a ballet studio?” Confusion on his face quickly turns to a smile and Izumi resigns himself to hearing about some wild theory. “Oh! Is there a black market for tutus? I bet there is, you’ve said they have lots of costumes stored here right?”

“Yes but I doubt there’s a black market for any kind of dance costume, Ousama. If anyone was stealing anything it’d be the cash and the shoes from the store here, those are a lot easier to move.”

“How would you know that? Don’t tell me you run an illegal ballet shoe ring!” As Leo eyes him suspiciously, Izumi gets a sinking feeling that they aren’t going to get anywhere unless he cuts him off here.

“When would I even find time for that?” Setting his bag down he finds his speaker and mp3 player. The studio space does have a CD player but it’s easier to just bring along a small portable speaker than carry a stack of CDs in his dance bag. “Get stretching, I only booked this place for an hour.”

It’s incredible how easily they fall into a comfortable, natural pace. Things still aren’t perfect, they likely won’t be given their minimal height difference and Leo’s weight but as Izumi manages to stand Leo upright for the first time after the bluebird lift, he finds himself ever wonder how he had issues with it. A little voice in his head reminds him it’s because Chika doesn’t trust him like Leo does but as he’s smiling fondly, watching Leo trying to catch his breath, that doesn’t really matter to him. He can worry about that when Leo’s not sitting on the floor a few metres away from him, lifting up his t-shirt to wipe sweat off of his forehead.

“Ousama, I did bring an extra towel, don’t use your t-shirt.” But despite his complaints his eyes are very, very keenly watching a drip of sweat navigate the lightly toned plane of his stomach.

“Ah! I forgot. It’s okay, I’ll put it in the wash afterwards, Mum.” Izumi rolls his eyes as Leo laughs. It’s rather a disappointment when he puts his shirt back down to smile at him.

Gracefully dropping to the floor, Izumi takes up a stretch, wrapping his hands around his ankles and pulling his chest flat against his legs.

“Hey, are we trying the other one again?” Eyeing Izumi, Leo copies his stretch. He can’t get his chest completely flat but he’s not that far off.

“The shoulder sit? I wasn’t kidding when I said you were too heavy for me to do it with. She’s a lot lighter than you are so I’m really just hoping that we’ll be able to manage it when we put the lifts back into our practices.”

“How heavy is she any way?” Leo muses “What was I? They did it in gym last week... Ah! I remember! 53kgs.”

“You can’t just ask a girl how heavy she is, you ass.” Izumi complains, adjusting the grip he has around his ankles. “And I don’t care how heavy you are.”

It’s not fair, he thinks to himself. Eight kilos lighter than he is, not that much shorter and absolutely no care for what he puts in his mouth. There’s a niggling reminder that Leo wasn’t eating when he’d shut himself away but he tries to drown it out, it’s not something he needs to be thinking about right now. Not when he’s just starting to pull himself out of the mental hole he’d found himself in. Pulling himself even flatter against his legs, he focuses on the slight burn he can feel in his muscles to try help drown out those thoughts.

“Why not though? You’re lifting her up so it’s only fair that she tells you.” He still doesn’t get it and Izumi doesn’t expect him to. “I know! Make it a rule, she has to tell you for you to dance with her!”

“Ousama I couldn’t give less fucks about her actual weight, all I know is it’s too much for me to do lifts with.” Sitting up he rolls his shoulder stiffly. “You’ll never get any girls interested in you if you act like that.”

“Lots of girls are interested in me though?” He sounds confused, obviously referring to their screaming hoards of fans, “I don’t care if girls like me or not.”

Izumi has to tell his heart not to beat faster at that. He missed his chance with Leo, there’s no way no matter who or what Leo’s interests lay in these days that it’s still himself.

“Fine, boys too, we can be just as touchy about that kind of stuff.” He tries.

“Ah but I don’t want boys either?” Izumi’s heart sinks.

“Fine, suit yourself, go chase your aliens, ask them how much they weigh.”

“Nope! I don’t want girls or boys or aliens.” He pauses, looking thoughtful, “Or maybe I do want aliens, wait I’m getting off track.”

Pushing himself up from the floor he takes all of three steps before plopping down right next to Izumi.

“What I want is Sena.”

All the blood in Izumi’s body rushes to his cheeks. He panics, he wants to believe that Leo’s being sincere and that this is a confession. But it’s impossible that after everything he’d done and how Leo had changed that he still liked him, if he even had in the first place.

“Ousama you can’t just joke about things like tha-” He’s cut off by lips pressing firmly against his own. He’d hesitate to call it a kiss but he’s guessing this is what Leo means it to be.

“See? I want Sena.” He says almost nervously when he stops holding his face against Izumi’s.

“You idiot.” He replies, trying to sound remotely confident and not like he’s about to start shaking from disbelief and shock. If it wasn’t for how bad Leo’s kiss was, he’d think this was a dream. Attempting to get a grip on himself, he realises that this might be a now or never thing, it is his second chance already after all. “Do you really mean that?”

“I do.” Serious and sad sounding, Izumi’s worried he’s said the wrong thing and ruined everything. “I always liked you and I tried to tell you so much but you never listened. Maybe you don’t like me back, that would be fitting wouldn’t it? Maybe I’ll write a song about it, a mad King chasing after an unrequited love. Ah but I’ve already written so many-.”

“Ousama,” He doesn’t know what to follow with, only knowing that he has to interrupt Leo before the moment has passed. Reaching to the corners of his brain he manages to find the words he needs. “It’s not unrequited.”

The silence that follows is terrifying. It shouldn’t be, considering Leo has confessed his feelings already. In an effort to fill it he keeps talking, probably saying things he probably shouldn’t.

“I was an idiot back then. An immature brat who couldn’t accept how he felt and didn’t know what he was doing. It wasn’t until you’d broken and disappeared that I figured out that I’d liked you this whole time. And then I couldn’t bring myself to let you know because it’s my fault you ended up broken. I don’t deserve you.” There’s a stinging in his eyes, tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. “You say you’re a mad king with an unrequited love? I’m stupid Knight who couldn’t admit his feelings before it was too late.”

Fingers brush under his eyes, wiping away a tear he hadn’t realised escaped.

“It’s not too late, Sena.” He almost whispers, “And I’m not broken, maybe I was, but I’ve picked myself up, grown and learnt stuff I’d never have learnt if things hadn’t happened that way. That’s the beauty of humans. We can get crushed into the dirt and shatter into a million pieces but that’s not the end. Dirty and blood stained as we may be, the only way for us to truly be defeated is if we give up on it all ourselves.”

“You really say some incredible things sometimes.” Unsure whether it’s the absurdness of the situation or due to his emotions being overwhelmed, he starts laughing, tears still falling from his eyes. “It’s hard to believe you’re so shit at naming songs when you talk like that.”

It’s a good thing they’re alone right now because fans might riot if they saw the cool and confident Sena Izumi acting every bit the mess of a teenage boy he really is.

“So?”

“So…?”

“Did you want to be my boyfriend, Sena?” Leo’s smiling but behind it Izumi can tell still nervous.

“I just cried my eyes out to you about how I’ve liked you since last year and you still have to ask that?” Wiping his own tears this time, he hears himself laugh again. “Yeah, I do.”

A grin flashes across Leo’s cat-like features before he’s wrapping his arm’s tightly around Izumi’s waist and pressing their mouths together again. When he pulls back he can see Leo’s cheeks shining with tears he hadn’t yet managed to wipe off his own face. He must look terrible and yet somehow, Leo still wants to kiss him when he’s raw, gross and emotional like this. He wants the real him, not some act of perfection he puts up and that makes his heart flutter wildly.

“Maybe not if you kiss like that though, we’re going to have to fix that.” He teases, wrapping his arms around Leo in return.

“Meanie. You talk as if you’re some kind of kissing expert, I bet you aren’t!” Faces still only inches apart, he can feel the warmth of Leo’s breath as he speaks.

“I can bet you I’ve had a lot more experience than you have, Ousama.” He replies dryly.

“Nope!” Leos smile changes to a pout almost immediately.

“If you’ve kissed more people than I have and you’re still that shit at it then I guess you’re a lost cause.” Izumi jokes, trying not to be genuinely disappointed in Leo’s lack of kissing ability.

“No, not that. Ousama. If you’re going to be my boyfriend I want you to call me my name.” He complains. “And you were my first kiss so don’t worry! I’ll be good in no time.”

Izumi’s cheeks feel like they’re on fire. Before today, the word boyfriend is something he didn’t expect anyone to ever call him. Especially not Leo, the one boy he knows he may never have gotten over if his love had been unrequited. Yet here he is, his first love, looking at him hopefully after asking him to call him by his real name.  

“If that was your first kiss and your second, then we’re re-doing them properly and calling that one your first kiss instead,” It feels silly to hesitate, when Leo-kun has been on his lips so many times before he’s switched it out for Ousama. He does hesitate though, feeling like maybe if he says it, this illusion will shatter around him. “…Leo-kun.”

It doesn’t shatter. Rather than a cold, harsh reality hitting him, the sound of Leo’s laughter does, bright and clear as he celebrates Izumi referring to him as he used to.

Their third kiss is still far from perfect. It’s clear Leo has no real idea what he’s doing with his lips and Izumi can’t help but laugh against his mouth as he struggles to figure it out. The third kiss turns into a fourth and a fifth. By the time they part a final time, out of breath and cheeks flushed, Izumi thinks Leo’s finally starting to get the hang of it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently there are 6 chapters now rather than 4. Oops.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have guessed from the rating change, Izumi gets some dick in this chapter.

The first thing Izumi learns about dating Leo, is that he’s still just as unpredictable as he’s always been (which in a way, he supposes, is very predictable). The second is that it’s incredibly hard to find time for just the two of them with his busy schedule. Moments alone filled with words that turn Izumi’s face bright red and brief touches that only leave him longing for more are savoured. The brush of his fingers against Leo’s as they cross each other’s paths in the hallway, a chaste kiss in an empty hallway or more passionate ones when they know they’re alone in the studio. He has to keep a guard up, because the moment he lets his mind wander, he’s smiling fondly in class remembering the feeling of Leo’s fingers in his.

Improvising quickly becomes key. Leo takes no time at all to grow accustomed to turning up at the dance studio like he belongs there, hood covering his hair and sunglasses over his sharp green eyes. It’s a poor substitution for time where they can be truly alone and focused on nothing but one another but it’s what they have to work with for the time being.

Already damp with sweat, his hand towel doesn’t do much to dry his face and neck, habit dictating that he try and wipe himself down after the music has ended regardless. His entire body is on fire, the still cool late winter air outside doing nothing to counter the sweltering stuffiness of the studio. Laying on the floor, bundled up in far too many layers to be practical, Leo exists in a completely different reality. Humming happily to himself, study materials lay almost untouched beside him in favour of attempting to build a tower out of the pens from his pencil case instead.

“Leo-kun.” He attempts to scold, throat dry and desperate for water, he saves the rest of his nagging until after taking a generous few gulps from his water bottle. “No one’s going to accept you into their university if your only prep for entrance exams is stacking pens.”

Concentration clear on his face, Leo finishes placing his final pen before looking up from his pointless feat of stationary architecture.

“I’m a genius, Sena! I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine.” Laughing loudly, Leo’s words don’t exactly settle his concerns. Not that he’s particularly worried about Leo’s future if he can’t get into university, in his opinion it’s a pointless move any way. Already an established composer and an incredibly talented performer himself, not going directly into the entertainment world upon graduation is a waste. He doesn’t want to see him fail at something however, no matter how pointless the pursuit may seem. “Besides, shouldn’t you be worrying about yourself? Look at you! You’re a tomato!”

Unable to tell if Leo’s targeting his vanity on purpose to distract him from any potential lectures or if he’s just making an observation about his physical state, he finds himself appraising his reflection regardless. The only thing that stops the embarrassment at his appearance from showing on his cheeks is the fact it’s not possible for them to get redder.

“I wouldn’t look this bad if it weren’t for someone refusing to let me open the windows.” He comments in a tone that would be bitter if it weren’t for the underlying affection for that certain someone showing through.

“But Senaaaa, I’ll freeze to death, you don’t want your boyfriend to become an ice-cube do you?” Pouting as he whines, Leo rolls onto his back, knocking his carefully placed pile of pens to the floor in the process.

“You’re making _your_ boyfriend look like a tomato, it’d only be fair.” Referring to Leo as his boyfriend causes his chest to tighten and flutter. The word catches in his throat awkwardly at times as if he can’t believe that this is all real yet.

Pressing his water bottle to his forehead, he tries to sap the little cold the ice remaining in it holds in order to look less tomato-like. No matter how much Leo doesn’t seem to mind him looking like this, it doesn’t stop him from being self conscious about his blotchy red complexion or the sweat literally dripping off himself.

“You can open a window if you come and be my heater.” He states as though it’s a perfectly reasonable request. “Let me steal all your heat.”

“I’m all gross and sweaty, you really don’t want to be touching me while I’m like this.” Regardless of his complaints, he finds himself making his way towards the windows.

Leo wrapping himself around him immediately after he joins him on the floor really cancels out any good the open window has been doing to cool him off. At least, if he’s so determined to cling this tightly to him, he could have the decency to strip off a couple of layers so that it felt less like being wrapped in a thick blanket and more like being hugged by his boyfriend.

“All you’re doing now is getting all your clothes gross and sweaty too.” He remarks, knowing the only reason he can feel the sweat on himself drying off is because Leo’s sweater is absorbing it.

Laughing, Leo only hugs him tighter.

“Doesn’t matter! I’ll get as gross as I can and it won’t matter as long as it’s Se… Izumi.” There’s a pause after Leo tries out his first name. It’s not the first time he’s switched to using it lately, obvious that he’s trying to break the habit of calling Izumi the name he’s called him for years. Of course things can’t be as easy as they were for Izumi, who had trouble sometimes remembering to refer to him by his title rather than his name but every time Leo uses it, he finds himself smiling no matter the situation. “Hmmmm, it still feels weird, I’ll get used to it though!”

Without realising he’s doing it, Izumi finds himself grabbing one of the hands crossing his body, squeezing it lightly out of affection. His chest tightens similarly, reminding him, as if he wasn’t already very aware of it, that he’s deeply in love with this idiot whose currently latched onto him like some kind of weird parasite.

“What was that dance you were doing? It was far more, ah, far more you.” Leo asks after a comfortable silence. “Did you make it up?”

“It was choreographed for me.” He says, accepting that he’s never going to get relief from the heat and leaning back against Leo. “You know I sometimes enter competitions right? It’s one of my dances for those.”

“You never said you do those, or did you...” He pauses to think “Nope! I don’t think you did.”

Thinking about it, he probably hasn’t mentioned that to Leo, usually just saying he has _‘something on’_ or _‘a ballet thing’_ if one happens to clash with a proposed Knights activity.

“Either way it’s never really seemed important until now so maybe I didn’t mention it.”

He contemplates going further into how the competitions work, or what dances he performs for them but the arms loosening from around his waist have him cutting that thought short as he wonders what Leo’s up to now.

It takes some quick thinking to realise Leo’s gone from behind him suddenly and catch himself before he falls against the floor with his support now gone. Even more quick thinking is required to process what’s happening as Leo pretty much climbs into his lap, sliding his hands under his t-shirt.

“They were cold.” Is all the explanation Izumi gets, as he tries not to focus too much on the fact Leo’s hands are now cool against the bare skin of his chest.

Trying not to focus to much on the fact of where Leo’s hands are fails very fast. Heat completely unconnected to how much he’s been sweating quickly starts to course through his body and any colour that had been fading from his cheeks is back in full force. Deep breaths and mentally chiding himself for being such a goddamn typical teenage boy, he attempts to stop his mind and body going down the train of thought that it’s dangerously close to going down.

“You should teach me ballet.” Leo says, thankfully, continuing the conversation down a normal, pure path and allowing Izumi to pick himself out of the gutter somewhat.

“Not today.” The way Leo moves, he’s definitely got the capacity to be good at it but there’s an awful lot of foundation work that would need to be done and strength to be built. As exhausted as he is, Izumi doesn’t particularly feel like starting a Basics of Ballet class this afternoon. “It’s a lot harder than it looks, just so you know.”

“Some day. I’ll keep bugging you until you do it.”

 As he throws his head back to laugh, a strand of his bangs gets caught on the corner of his mouth. Reaching up to brush it out of the way, Izumi feels the entire mood chance. There’s tension as he brushes the hair behind Leo’s ear, their eyes locking, as if daring the other to make the first move.

It’s Leo who takes it, leaning forwards to press a chaste kiss against Izumi’s lips. He doesn’t leave things there, almost as soon as they’ve parted his lips are back on Izumi’s open mouthed and demanding, he can almost taste the intention to take things further.

Any hopes of cooling down are completely gone as he pulls Leo tighter against himself, kissing back like his life depends on it. Little needy gasps and moans being pulled from the back of both their throats, he can only be thankful the class in the next room is so noisy and drowning out any chance of their sounds carrying over.

It’s probably not wise, he’s realising, to let things get that much more heated unless he’s willing to have his first time with Leo on the floor of a dance studio with a class of tap dancers on the other side of the wall but it’s hard to be rational. Leo’s hands grab and scratch at the skin under his shirt, pushing the fabric up and exposing his chest. The only thing stopping the garment from making it over his head is that neither of them want to part lips for long enough to slip it off entirely.

An insistent roll of Leo’s hips against his own makes him properly aware of just how deep they’re getting into things. Leo may be wearing a lot of layers but even through them he can feel that he’s starting to get hard. It’s a shame to break the kiss, a hand coming up between their mouths to make sure he gets a chance to speak without Leo continuing his attack on both his lips.

“I’m not going any further here.” From how heavily he’s breathing it sounds like he’s just finished dancing again.

“But Sena, you can’t leave me like this.” Leo whines, pressing against Izumi again and making it very clear that he’s half hard.

“I’m not just going to leave you like that. I’m just saying not here.” Wriggling slightly, he tries to put some distance between their crotches, knowing his resolve might just break if Leo keeps grinding down on his dick like that. “Collect up your stuff and we’ll go back to my place, Mama and Papa are out for the day so we’ll be alone.”

“You and Rittsu did it in a prac-”

Very quickly his hand goes from separating their mouths so he can speak, to covering Leo’s.

“How do you even know that? God.” It wasn’t like he was planning on keeping the specifics of his sexual history from Leo, he just, would have preferred Leo found out such things from his own mouth. And perhaps not this early into them dating. “Don’t tell me Naru-kun told you, _‘gossip is unlady-like~_ ’ my ass.”

“Nope, I’m the King, I just know everything!” The only response Leo gets is a raised eyebrow at how obviously he’s bullshitting. “Okay, okay. I asked Naru what he meant when he said he walked in on you and he said to ask Rittsu and he told me.”

“Okay whatever, we’re still not going to have sex in a dance studio.” _Not for our first time together anyway._

“Rittsu told me all sorts of other interesting things too!” A blush forming on Izumi’s cheeks for a completely different reason, he can’t help but let out a resigned groan. “I didn’t realise that you and Naru-”

Hand back over Leo’s mouth, he finally manages to completely free himself from underneath him.

“I’m seriously going to kill Kuma-kun.” A warm, wet sensation graces the palm of his hand, Leo’s tongue he realises. Removing his hand he wipes the saliva off onto his sweat stained t-shirt, grimacing slightly at doing so even though the shirt is going straight into the wash as soon as he gets home.

“No don’t do that, we need him. Besides, what if he’s immortal, then you’d just feel silly.” Leo says completely seriously.

“Even if he was, there’s ways to kill vampires.” Standing up he’s very thankful that he’s wearing a dance belt, his skin-tight dance tights would do nothing to hide how aroused he had started to get while they were making out otherwise. “Come on, pack up your stuff, I’m not doing it for you.”

 

\----

 

Upside down, laying half over the side of his bed and reading a magazine is hardly the state he expected to find Leo in when returning to his room. Bright orange hair almost brushes the floor and from the redness gathering on his face, Izumi can guess that he must have been in this position for a while. Most of his winter layers lay in an unruly pile on the floor, something he would have half a mind to fold and move to a more appropriate location if it weren’t for the fact he knows more clothes are going to end up thrown off in the heat of the moment.  

“You know it’s not good for you to be upside down for too long, right?” He comments, wandering over to his windows to pull the curtains. The second floor bedroom of his neighbour does not need to see what they’re about to do.

“Hey Sena, did you know Naru used to be the same height as you?” Turning around, he takes a second look at the magazine Leo’s reading. Glossy cover featuring a significantly younger Makoto, Izumi now remembers exactly the editorial that he must be looking at.

“Considering I worked with him when he was, yeah, I do know that.”

Sliding from the bed to the floor in a manoeuvre that Izumi’s sure should have hurt his back or neck, Leo is careful to keep the magazine from getting damaged in any way. Sitting up he looks Izumi up and down before a perplexed expression settles on his face.

“You’re not wearing the tights anymore?”

“Of course I’m not, what did you think I was going to do? Shower with them on?” Plucking the magazine from Leo’s hands he sets it back in its place on his bookshelf.

“No. That would be silly!” Leo Laughs. “Your legs look beautiful in them though.”

“You better not just want to fuck me because my legs look good in a pair of tights.”

“Nope! But you have to wear them for me someday.” Leo comments, rolling off the ground in perhaps the most unnecessarily complex way Izumi has ever borne witness to before settling on his mattress in a far more proper way this time.

While he doesn’t at all oppose the idea, he finds himself rolling his eyes regardless. Force of habit, he guesses as he makes his way over to Leo.

“Fine.” Climbing onto the bed himself he pushes Leo backwards into the mattress, claiming his lips before he can make any more demands before they’ve even had their first time together.

Easily they fall into a rhythm, Leo’s slightly dry, chapped lips against his own soft and moisturised ones. Warm and welcoming, it’s not long until Izumi hears himself moaning softly into his mouth. Sharp teeth occasionally nibble at his lower lip and Izumi wonders to himself if Leo isn’t secretly also a vampire.

Fingers take hold in his freshly washed hair, trying to pull him impossibly closer as Leo gets needier and more insistent. Without realising consciously that he’s doing it, Izumi finds himself tangling his fingers in Leo’s long hair in response, grinding his hips down against him as his body starts to react to how things are heating up. Desperately Leo responds, gasping and moaning back, rolling his hips upwards, searching out sweet stimulation. It’s all so clumsy, inexperienced teenage boy but Izumi can feel him starting to get hard through layers of fabric separating them and decides that for the moment, he really doesn’t mind that.

Leo’s fingers are cold as they slide under his t-shirt, pushing it upwards as he maps out his chest. Breaking the kiss he figures there’s no time better than now to be done with it. His breath comes hard and heavy as he sits upright to pull it off, not noticing Leo’s managed to strip his own off in record time until he’s made sure his shirt lands somewhere that isn’t directly on the floor.

Leo’s body is beautiful and for a moment he can’t do anything but sit there and stare dumbly. Their make out sessions have definitely been getting heated with hands desperately grabbing at whatever they can through layers of uniform or practice clothes but never has he been greeted with a shirtless Leo that’s entirely his to touch and explore. Usually a shirtless Leo means he’s gotten distracted in the middle of getting changed and has started composing before getting the remainder of his clothes on.

Slowly running his hands over the flat expanse of his toned stomach, he’s almost surprised at how warm and soft his skin is. There’s a small gasp from Leo as his hands reach his chest thumbs flicking over erect nipples. Self control gone his mouth finds itself latching onto that smooth, unmarked skin, kissing and sucking at it until Leo is whining and squirming under him. He can’t get enough of his body and how responsive he is, never wanting to take his hands or mouth off of him.

Leo seems to have other ideas, hips grinding demandingly against Izumi’s chest as he explores his toned stomach with his tongue.

“Senaaa, stop being mean.”

“I’m not being mean, I’m just enjoying myself. You’ve got such a nice body, it’s not fair.” It’s a shame to have to take his mouth off him to respond.

“That’s being mean.” To punctuate his statement, Leo pushes his hips up against him, leaving very little to the imagination about the state that he’s in. Feeling the rock hard outline of his cock pressed so needily against his chest, Izumi figures that it’s really not that much of a loss if they move on to that instead. There’s no denying that he’s just as hard.

For someone so eager to be touched, Leo isn’t much help at all in the process of getting his pants off. Obviously not wanting to lose the small amount of relief he’s managing to get, he continues to squirm and gyrate his hips even as Izumi’s fingers struggle to unbuckle his belt and get his fly undone. Accepting that he’s going to have to sit back up and away from him to get anywhere, he takes a moment to take in what he’s done to Leo so far. Hair mostly pulled out of his ponytail, it sticks in an unruly mess to his face, whether he’s already sweating or it’s the aftermath from their somewhat messy kissing, Izumi can’t tell. Small pink marks trail down his chest where he hasn’t had the self control to pull back quite before they left evidence and dipping his view even lower, the thin fabric of Leo’s boxers does little to conceal the shape of his cock, a small wet patch already staining the material.

“Sena?” Leo asks curiously, snapping Izumi out of his trance.

Now no longer having to fight against the insistent rolling of Leo’s hips to get his pants off, he makes quick work of removing the last of his clothing.

“I wanna see Sena too.” Demanding and breathy, Leo speaks before Izumi’s even had time to appreciate the newly revealed parts of him.

“Fine.” It takes no time at all to divest himself of the sweatpants and boxer briefs he’d put on after his shower. Hearing them miss where he’s tried to throw them onto the same chair his t-shirt had landed on, he shrugs, there are more important things at hand than how tidy his room will be for the next little while. Especially with Leo’s clothes already littering his floor.

Shuffling back against the pillows until he’s sitting upright, Leo stares at him, wide eyed and hungry. Despite the fact he’s obviously not complaining about what he sees, Izumi can’t help but feel slightly self conscious under such scrutiny.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just getting to see all of you like this. You’re beautiful.”

“You’ve seen me naked before, dumbass.” He says, knowing he’s being hypocritical after acting the exact same way about seeing Leo naked.

“Yeah.” Leo breathes, leaning forward and reaching out towards him, “Not like this though.”

Running a hand down his chest, Izumi can’t help but gasp in reaction to the gentle touch; so light and delicate that it almost tickles. Leo doesn’t stop as his fingers dip further south, Izumi’s abs tightening instinctively as his hand makes its way over them. Cautiously, as if asking of it’s okay, his fingers trail slowly through the small patch of silver hair leading to his achingly hard length.

“I never thought I’d get to…” Leo’s words trail off, whispering to himself as he wraps his hand carefully around Izumi’s dick.

“Neither.” Izumi almost laughs, half in disbelief that this is really happening and not some cruelly realistic dream.

Slowly, Leo starts to move his hand, brow furrowed cutely as he focuses on making sure Izumi is getting something out of this. Which is silly, Izumi thinks, Leo could be the worst person in the world at giving hand jobs and he’d probably still end up cumming just because it’s Leo touching him.

“Is it good?” He asks, looking up at Izumi’s face.

“Yeah.” He responds, eyes moving to Leo’s own neglected dick. “Weren’t you the one who was just getting impatient about not being touched though?”

“Mm, but I changed my mind.” Leo laughs, far softer and more genuine than his usual loud laughter. “I want to touch Sena now.”

“Fine, I’m not going to complain but let me get a bit more comfortable first.”

Either not understanding what he’s saying or not wanting to, Leo shows no signs of stopping his hand. It’s a shame to have to grab his wrist so that he’ll let him move to lie back against the pillows when all he wants to do his thrust his hips upwards into that pretty hand and pull Leo back against him for another kiss. Knowing that something as simple as a slightly clumsy hand job from Leo has him this worked up, he can’t help but wonder how the hell he’s going to last once he’s actually got his dick inside him.

Rather than what he expects, Leo sitting on his thighs and taking him back in his hand, he spreads his legs, sitting himself in between them. Licking his lips and drawing his eyes down Izumi’s body, his eyes settle on his dick again, giving Izumi an idea of what he’s about to do. Leaning up he steals a quick kiss from those pretty lips before bracing himself. Even imagining Leo sucking him off is enough to take him dangerously close to the edge; something he knows well as the image has been a favourite for him to jerk off to for far longer than they’ve been dating.

Comfortable between Izumi’s legs Leo smiles up at him with desire sparkling in his eyes, he swears it has to be a sin to look so cute when there’s a cock less than two centimetres from your face. He licks his lips again, tongue so close to his dick when it flicks out that Izumi swears he feels the warmth of his mouth radiating off of it. He doesn’t have to rely on warmth that he may or may not have imagined for much longer. That train of thought is cut short as hot and deliberate, Leo’s tongue licks a stripe up his length from base to tip. Immediately his eyes close tight as he reminds himself to keep his hips still, this is Leo’s first time doing this after all, no need to make it more difficult than it may already be for him.

Opening his eyes when he feels no further contact, he’s greeted by a contemplative expression on Leo’s face.

“It just tastes like skin.” There’s nothing he can do but laugh in disbelief.

“Of course it does, what did you expect?”

“Maybe sweat? Or something more Sena.” His tongue darts out again, as if to confirm the taste.

“I just showered, of course it’s not going to taste like sweat, oh my god.” Running a hand down his face in disbelief he realises he should have seen something like this coming from Leo.  

He’s about to keep complaining when Leo takes his full length in his mouth and just ends up groaning instead at how good it feels. As if testing how much he can take in one go, Leo takes more of Izumi’s length down his throat with each bob of his head. Never quite managing to fit all of it down but managing not to gag or choke, he’s doing a far better and cleaner job than the first time Izumi himself had had a dick in his mouth. Sitting up against his pillows he has a full view of Leo, bangs hanging in front of his face as he works. While he isn’t exactly skilled, the view more than makes up for what he lacks there. Lacking skill or not, it’s still Leo’s mouth on his cock and the wet, warm heat is so tempting to thrust up into. Reminding himself that he’s not the needy virgin here (not that that makes him any less desperately needy), he manages to resist the temptation.

Pulling back off his dick, Leo looks up at him; cheeks flushed he wipes the spit surrounding his mouth off on the back of his arm.

“I need to finger you too right?” Izumi is very much brought back to the reality of just how inexperienced Leo is. Half rolling over he manages to reach his bedside drawers without having to move away from Leo.

“Someone needs to, I could do it myself but it’s probably best if you learn.” After handing the bottle of lube down to Leo he fishes a condom out of the drawers and sets it on top as well.

“Woah, it’s slippery!” Looking down the bed he’s greeted with a view of Leo staring at his now slick fingers in clear amazement.

“No shit, that’s kinda the entire point of it.” Trying not to roll his eyes he focuses on the fact Leo is here, hard, naked and soon about to fuck him rather than on Leo’s slightly less arousing eccentricities.

Carefully Leo slides a finger inside him and it makes focusing on that side of things suddenly so much easier. He could say all sorts of ridiculous things but as long as he’s progressing toward getting his cock inside him, for once Izumi can over look them.

“You can put two in.” His voice shakes slightly as he speaks.

“Right away? Are you that used to this, Sena? Having things inside you.”

Izumi curses how easily he responds to dirty talk that even an accidentally lewd question has his breath catching. In the back of his mind he can’t help but think that this bodes well for Leo being decent at it once he’s not such a fumbling virgin.

“Yeah.” He says, not specifying which half of the question he’s answering. In what must be a completely accidental movement, Leo’s fingers brush over his prostate, back arching off the mattress he moans quietly.

Humming happily, Leo thrusts his fingers back in at the exact same angle. Izumi’s hands grasp at the sheets as he takes him in his mouth again; fingers and tongue working in tandem to torture him.

Curious noises form in his throat as he works out what Izumi likes best; he’s a fast learner. Which is both an excellent thing and a terrible thing in this moment. A low moan slips past his lips as Leo swallows with most of his length down his throat and curls his fingers in to get his prostate at the same time.

“Leo-kun-” Breathing deeply he tries to steady his voice “If you keep doing that I’ll cum way too fast.”

Letting his length slide out of his mouth, Leo looks up at him through thick eyelashes; a trail of saliva reaches from his lips to where the tip of Izumi’s dick is resting against his cheek. A sight like that should definitely be illegal, Izumi thinks.

“Should I put another finger in then?”

“I can probably take you fine now but yeah if you wanna be sure.”

“You’ve got a lot of experience, don’t you Sena?” Adding a third finger, Izumi’s grateful that Leo’s focus turns from attacking his prostate to just making sure he’s ready for him.

“You knew that already.” Reaching toward Leo’s shoulder, he pulls him up for a kiss. Sharp canines scrape across his bottom lip as Leo responds urgently. It’s pretty impressive that he’s managed to last this long with no actual attention himself when clearly, he’s just as worked up as Izumi is.

Both of them are panting heavily as the kiss breaks, shaky, heavy breathing the only sound in the room aside from the occasional lewd noise from Leo’s fingers thrusting inside him.

“Get inside me. Now.”

“You sure?” The look on his face has Izumi suspecting that it took more self control than he thought Leo had to ask that question. He can’t help but laugh slightly as he blindly grabs for where he left the condom, not wanting to take his eyes off of Leo’s heavily flushed cheeks and lust clouded eyes.

“More than sure.” Waiting for Leo to roll it on and apply lube gives him a well needed chance to calm down slightly and bring himself back from the edge a bit.

Any work to calm himself down is immediately undone when he feels the head of Leo’s dick against his entrance; a quiet, needy groan escaping him as he feels him start to press in.

“God, Sena...” Barely above a whisper, Leo breathes the words.

Just how much he had to have been holding back is suddenly very clear with how fast Leo sinks inside him. As he bottoms out Izumi finds himself moaning, as much at the fact that it’s Leo that’s inside him as at the satisfying fullness of having a dick inside him in general.

“Is it that good?” Leo asks in amazement, rolling his hips slowly as he speaks.

To stop himself from saying anything too embarrassing like _‘only because it’s you’_ he bites his lip, pressing back against him hungrily. Thankfully Leo gets the hint, slowly pulling back enough to thrust inside carefully. Too carefully, to the point where it’s frustrating as he treats Izumi like he’s glass. One look at his eyes tells Izumi that he’s using every ounce of self control he has to go this slowly and be this careful. Body and mind both screaming with how much they want Leo to break that self control and to take him as wildly or roughly as he really wants, his hands find their way to Leo’s ass, pulling him in deeper and faster.

“I won’t break, seriously.” Blunt nails dig into soft flesh as he pulls Leo into him deeply again. Desperation courses through him, wanting, needing more. Needing to feel Leo so far inside him he’ll never be able to forget how his cock feels.

Somewhat clumsily, the pace picks up, Leo moaning breathily as he tries to find a steady rhythm.

“This good?” He manages to get out. It’s obvious to Izumi that he’s trying his best to find something that’s good for both of them but with how inexperienced he is, even the feeling of just being inside someone must be overwhelming to him. “…Izumi?”

A shaky sigh escapes from in him in response to Leo using his first name. Pulling him down on top of him he crashes their lips together.  The kiss is as messy as some of their first kisses together, Leo struggling to multi-task now that he’s getting stimulation himself.  In that moment of Leo fumbling to keep up with what he needs, he gives in to the inevitability that he’s going to have to take control.

“Swap positions with me, I’ll ride you.” The words sound downright filthy to his own ears as he speaks them against Leo’s lips. The way Leo stills inside him tells him they must have sounded equally as lewd to him.

“Mmm, god, okay... okay” Leo says, more to himself than to Izumi as he pulls out and makes himself comfortable with his head against the pillows.

Straddling his hips it’s easy to fall into position, having done this before with other partners. Reaching behind himself to line Leo’s dick up with his entrance, it takes but one swift movement to take him fully inside, a soft groan escaping his lips as he feels himself filled up again. Rolling his hips he’s greeting with a similar sound from Leo.

“Ah, Izumi, you’re beautiful, beautiful.” Hands grasping at his hips for purchase he babbles on, looking so gone it’s almost a wonder he’s able to think enough to speak real words.

Starting to fuck himself on Leo’s cock he feels that grip tighten, short nails digging in tightly, only adding to the pleasure he’s drawing from being able to set a faster, harder pace himself. Sweat drips down his back and he can feel his thigh muscles starting to burn but the reactions Leo’s giving him and the sensations he’s feeling are too good to have him giving in to his body’s complaints. Angling himself just right, a loud moan fills his room, body almost collapsing on top of Leo in reaction to the head of his cock rubbing against his prostate.

Either Leo notices he’s starting to exhaust his already tired muscles or he’s just instinctively trying to draw out the same sounds from Izumi again. Thrusting his hips back up in time with Izumi’s movements he manages to repeatedly target his prostate, giving him no reprieve from the relentless attack of pleasure.

“F-fuck, Izumi, I’m not gunna, I’m not gunna last.” Leo’s voice cracks as he speaks, somehow still not losing control of the rhythm they’ve got going.

Falling forwards he braces himself with his elbows either side of Leo’s head, catching his lips with his own. There’s zero finesse to their kissing, sloppy and imprecise, it mirrors just how close they both are to losing control. He can feel his dick brushing against Leo’s abs with every movement of his hips now, the added stimulation too much. Trying to tell Leo it’s okay that he won’t last, he’s near the edge too fails as words fail him. All he can do is cry out, burying his head into Leo’s shoulder to somewhat muffle the noise as his climax comes faster than expected. His release spills over both their stomachs, mixing with the sheen of sweat covering both their bodies in a slick and sticky mess.

 It’s hard when this gone to keep moving, over stimulation and exhaustion trying to take over as he desperately tries to keep himself going long enough for Leo to reach his own orgasm.

“So good, so good Izumi, so good” Chanting along with the movements of his hips as he fucks up into Izumi, his voice is hoarse and breathy.

Face screwed up in pleasure, Leo’s hips snap up into him, burying his full length inside as he cums with a high moan. Collapsing against the mattress, his chest heaves as he tries to catch his breath. It takes all of Izumi’s self control not to just fully fall on top of him.

“That was incredible.” Leo whispers up at him when he has enough control of his breathing to speak again. “We need to do it again, lots.”

Letting his length slide from him, Izumi positions himself beside him in a way that hopefully won’t lead to too many bodily fluids staining his sheets. He’s going to have to put them through the wash any way but that doesn’t exactly mean he wants to end up rolling over into half dried cum on his sheets while cuddling with Leo.

“I should have known you’d be some kind of crazily insatiable once we actually had sex.” He half laughs, brushing his fingers through Leo’s sweat damp hair. “You’ll have to go easy on me before lives or when Sleeping Beauty is on though.”

Rolling towards him, Leo wraps an arm around his waist, fingers drawing pictures on his back.

“We could just swap? I can bottom, I think I’d like it.” Leo says in somewhat confusion. “You liked it and anything that makes you sound that good can’t be bad.”

“You don’t want me topping.” Izumi responds, trying not to remember the one time he had tried and how much he’d just ended up wishing that he was back in his usual position getting fucked until he can’t think instead.

“Rittsu did say-”

“I don’t even want to know  what else he said about me.” Izumi grumbles. “Ugh he’s so annoying, I’d rather Naru-kun _had_ told you instead.”

Leo just laughs, pulling Izumi tighter against himself.

“I want to know everything about you so does it really matter if he told me things like that? I’ll still love you, Izumi!” Heat rises in Izumi’s cheeks very quickly as Leo presses a kiss to his forehead.

“I’d rather have told you those things myself…” He trails off, getting embarrassed only now that the conversation is getting more personal.

Thankfully Leo leaves things there, allowing him to relax as much as he can while covered in quickly cooling sweat and cum. On his bedside table he sees his phone screen light up, probably a line message from the number of vibrations. Closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against Leo’s he reminds himself to check it later, probably after he’s showered, something he’s definitely going to have to drag Leo along with him to do very soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven’t written a completely vanilla sex scene in so long and it was weird. Usually I rely pretty hard on kinks to make things interesting so I hope weak attempts at humour and awkward first timer Leo kept things from being boring. This chapter is the most dominant I will probably ever write Izumi lolllll, I have far more fun writing him as a needy sub who gets off on humiliation.   
> Just a heads up, I likely wont have another complete chapter for a month, I’m off overseas on holiday for a couple of weeks soon and don’t have the time before hand to get a mostly unwritten chapter up and done in the week before that. Don’t worry I will come back, I promise, not only do I love these dudes too much not to, I have the sex scene from the last chapter done and it would be such a waste to drop a fic when I’ve got that written.

**Author's Note:**

> Somehow this fic has ended up a lot longer than I intended it to be.


End file.
